By Joyce Caughron Rhodes
WWII
As I’ve said before, my ‘Memory Lane’ has many paths and I think this one would be named ‘Second-Hand Memories’.
You know the kind where you remember something or part of something, because someone told you about it, for example, like things that happened during and after World War ll.
I can remember buying 10 Cent Savings Bond Stamps at the Post Office and pasting them in my book. When the book was filled you would take it to the Post Office and get a $25.00 United States Defense Savings Bond. This was one way to help the War effort. Just about everything was rationed, during this time; meat, groceries, gas, to name a few. Most of this part, I don’t remember. My parents tended to the Ration Coupons.
I remember them saying, “Each different thing counted for a different number of points and each family was allotted so many points a month. Everyone had to be so careful that they didn’t use up all their points before the end of the month.
This is one of those memories that I need to really concentrate on. I didn’t witness this first hand, so it’s a second-hand memory. You probably have a lot of second-hand memories. Sometime in the past, there was a small store, more like a short order restaurant, in Wynnburg, operated by Mr. & Mrs. Eastwood. This tale happened a couple of years after the war, when things were still scarce.
Mrs. Eastwood, bless her heart, always had aches in either her arms or legs.
You could ask, “Mrs. Eastwood, how are you feeling today?” She would rub her arm and reply, “My limb is really bothering me today.” Now, back to the tale. A lot of items, like ice cream, were still hard to come by. Mrs. Allie Throgmorton walked into her store, up to the counter, and said, “I would like a double-dip of vanilla icecream.”
Mrs. Eastwood looked at her and said, “I don’t know if I have a double dip or not.” Mrs. Allie told her, “I bet you can find it, if you look, and probably more than that.” Mrs. Allie got her ice-cream.
My life was not affected like Harry Lee’s family, during the “Big One,” as many people would call it. Harry Lee had six brothers to enlist for duty, Norman Thomas “Bud”, Charlie “Bill”, James “Lyman”, Cornell, Melvin and Wayne, Jr., Kenneth and Harry Lee were just too young, at this time. Bud was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and died two weeks later from the wound. Lyman, Melvin and Cornell were wounded during this war, also. So, his parents, Mrs. Alice and Mr. Wayne, had more to contend with than items being rationed.
Our country has always been as strong as the stars guarding the night.
With our servicemen protecting us and God watching over us, we will remain a strong nation.
